Ahead of the World Juniors Championship hockey tournament coming to Minnesota this Christmas, a showcase is being held this week. Four different nations are evaluating their talent.

Minneapolis native Cullen Potter has played on hockey teams in Wisconsin, Texas, Michigan and in college at Arizona State. 

"I've been a lot of places. I think that's one thing in hockey, you kind of go all over the place," Potter said. "I've loved every step of the way."

It's a journey that led Potter, an 18-year-old forward, to the NHL Draft in Los Angeles last month. He was picked 32nd overall by the Calgary Flames in the first round.

"You've been wanting that to happen your whole life, and for it to finally go, it's like, you can't even put it into words how it feels because, you know, you've put in so much work to get there," he said.

When the U.S. won gold at the World Juniors last year, Potter was not on the team. This week goes a long way toward earning a spot this time around. Potter's motivation is at an all-time high.

"Growing up, watching the World Juniors and stuff your whole life, you kind of want to play in it. You see a lot of those guys playing in the NHL now," he said. "So being able to possibly have the opportunity to do that as well, and you know, getting the opportunity to play in the tournament would be a dream come true."

Cullen's mom, four-time Olympian Jenny Schmidgall-Potter, is one of the most accomplished women's hockey players of all time. This Christmas, her son has a good shot at journeying back to their home and living out a dream.

"It's always good to be home," said Potter. "Having the opportunity to maybe play in front of all my friends from home and you know, my family, too, it would be pretty cool."